Letter 49: PELAGIUS [PAPA] PRISCO to the bishop CAPUANO.

Pope Pelagius I to Bishop Priscus of Capua. It has just come to our ears that you have committed a serious offense. What could be graver than what you have done — to hand over to a man a woman who had taken refuge in the church of God, crying out that she wished to return to the religious vow she had unwisely abandoned, into the hands of the very man who had both deceived us here concerning her and who had no fear of God's judgment in desiring that a woman consecrated to God should serve his lust? Although we have endured other things said of you on various occasions, this we cannot bear at all, and for this reason, from this moment on, we suspend you from carrying out your episcopal functions until this matter has been fully investigated.

PELAGIUS [PAPA] PRISCO EPISCOPO CAPUANO. Eue- \ nit modo ut scelus a te factum audiremus. Quid enim grauius ab aliquo committi potuit, quam quod tu fecisti, ut refugientem mu¬ lierem ad ecclesiam Dei et clamantem quia ad propositum suum unde infeliciter discesserat reuerti uellet, tu eam in manus eius tra¬ didisti qui et nobis hic de ipsa pei^rauit, et qui non reueritus est indicium Dei, ut illam quae Deo consecrata fuerat suae luxuriae desideret seruire. Et quamuis alia quae de te frequenter dicta 2 sunt pertulerimus, istud ferre nullatenus possumus; et i^?circo, ex peiurauit I 9 istud] ex istuo corr. vid. I: illud Theiner idcirco] Theiner: iccirco I Epistulam hanc eodem ferme die quo praecedens datam fuisse, infer¬ tur ipso sermone eiusdem. Quapropter, etsi in CoU. Britannica non constet, huic loco temporique inserendam, consentaneum duxi, Tit. Prisco episcopo Capuano: Victori, qui die 2 aprilis a. 554 de¬ cessit, in sedem Capuanam successit. Cf. H. LECeERCQ, Capone, DACL., t. II, 2, c. 2064-2084; F. Lanzoni, o. c., p. 189-204; P. Kehr, o. c„ t, VIII, p. 199-200; 214-228; L. Jadin, Capone, DHGE., t. XI, c. 888-907 (prae¬ sertim c. 892); D. Maeeardo, Capna, in Enc. CattoL, t. III, c. 729-732. 1. de ipsa peierauit... Deo consecrata: Liquet, illam esse lulianam, cuius nec habitum nec consecrationem veritus, corruperat Severus, ad quem anteriorem ep. 48 misit papa. Quoad ius asyli Cf. IusTiniani, Cod., I, 12; Nov., 17; 37; 117; G. LE Bras, Asile, DHGH., t. IV, c. 1035-1047; E. Her- MAN, Asile dans VEglise orientale ..., DDC., t. I, c. 1084-1089; L. R. MiSSE- REY, Asile en Occident, ihid., c. 1089-1104; N. CroSTAroSA Scipioni, Asilo, in Enc. CattoL, t. II, c. 136-139. opere, filium nostrum M^nantitun diaconum sedis nostrae statim illuc uenire conpulimus, ut nisi recollecta et ecclesiae reddita uel ad nos directa fuerit, non dicam a sacerdotio, sed ab ipsa etiam te communione suspendat. Festina ergo quomodo nosti, et qui¬ bus nosti ifiodis, ut scelus tuum et tam graue facinus emendes, quod donec facias ab officio te tuo iubemus esse remotum. ow.] Theiner. Agnello episcopo Ravennati mandat, ut eligat ac sacerdotio initiet virum bona indole litterisque versatus, eumque ad patricium loannem remittat; in sacris officiis tantum papae et episcopi mentionem faciat.